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Science Fiction and Skepticism:

November 30, 2010

The works of
American author and podcaster Scott Sigler combine many genres, including
science fiction, horror, and thriller. After successfully recording
and distributing the audiobook of his
novel Earthcore as a podcast
(with over 10,000 subscribers) in 2005, he
also released his books Ancestor,
Infected, The Rookie,
Nocturnal, and Contagious via podcast.

His
second major published novel, Contagious, made the
New York Times best seller list. Its precursor,
Infected, has been optioned as a motion-picture production. All
of his stories are freely available to listen to as audiobooks in
serialized form. His latest works,
The Rookie and The Starter,
will be available as e-books and audiobooks on the December
3, 2010, just in time for Christmas.

Kylie Sturgess: For
people who might not be familiar with your work, I was wondering if
you could tell us how you came to release the book Ancestor twice?

Scott Sigler: Well,
the book Ancestor I originally put out as a free podcast. That
was in 2005. Then in 2007, we put it out in print via a small press
called Dragon Moon Press. When that came out, it hit number two in fiction
on Amazon.com. It was number one in horror and sci-fi. Due to the fan
base that I have online—I have a big fan base—[many people] bought
the book.

The
high ranking on Amazon came at a time when several [publishers] were
considering buying Infected. So, that then led into an auction
for Infection, which was crazy-wonderful heady times, and once
[my new publishers Crown] bought Infected and the two books that
were to follow it, they decided they wanted to get Ancestor and
Earthcore off the market, so they bought those to get them off the
market. Then Infected and Contagious had done well enough
that they decided that they wanted to bring Ancestor back.

So,
I’ll be re-releasing Earthcore via my new publishers as well.
It’s been re-written with Crown’s editors, and we’re out in hardcover—but
we released Ancestor in Australia for the first time this year.

Sturgess: At SwanCon
this year, the science fiction and pop culture convention in Perth,
Western Australia, I got to hear you do a panel on “Making Your Science
Work in Your Science Fiction Novel.” How vital is science to the work
that you do?

Sigler: It’s critical
for my work, because what I’m going for is a particular brand of fiction
where the monsters are actually plausible. It’s a deviation from the
vampire or the werewolf or the zombie—although some of the zombies
[in science fiction] are scientifically believable. I mean, Jonathan
Maberry’s Patient Zero: A Joe Ledger Novel, has a wonderful
structure where you can believe that zombies exist. So, if I’m going
to create the sense of illusion that everything about the monster is
plausible—you just haven’t seen it yet in real life but it could
be coming at you tomorrow—hard science is very, very important for
that.

I
have a lot of people who help me with the science, [making] sure I get
everything right, and I’m trying to work that—integrate that science—for
real page-turner thrillers.

Sturgess: You don’t
have a strictly scientific background yourself though, do you?

Sigler: No, I don’t
have any real scientific training apart from reading Discover,
Popular Science, [and] National Geographic and consuming
everything I can get my hands on! I decided in college to go into journalism
instead of biology, but it was very close. So, I have a layman’s appreciation
for [science], and I know a little bit about a lot of different topics
within biology. Once I get into the physics and the maths… I’m not
so strong there!

Sturgess: People might
know that you had an early appearance on the Skepticality Podcast.
Do you consider yourself a skeptically minded person?

Sigler: I do now. Actually,
podcasting has opened up the skeptical world to me; I didn’t know
before that it existed! Primarily through the show Skepticality
and Swoopy and Derek—that’s where I discovered the whole mind-set
and realized that there were people out there who were spreading the
other side of the information instead of misinformation. They are out
actively encouraging people to think for themselves, and what’s been
interesting is that they’re not necessarily telling people “this
is bunk.” They are encouraging people to think critically about things
and learn how to address things when you run into them.

[Skepticism
is] becoming more and more important in America, because we’re under
siege right now. Basic tenets like evolution are under attack in a lot
of different places. So, it’s been very rewarding to get involved
with that community, and [I’m] getting more involved as I go. My primary
function right now within it is very low-level, but I’m putting out
entertainment and pop culture entertainment that has the tenets of skepticism
right in the book.

Sturgess: How many people
do you think learn about science through their exposure to science fiction?

Sigler: Unfortunately,
quite a few. And by unfortunately, I mean there’s a lot of consumption
of science fiction that isn’t really science fiction—it’s actually
[leading] more into the fantasy field. People … tend to believe certain
things are true which are not, which leads to a bit of disappointment
when they discover what the facts are.

There
are some people out there who are trying to educate in science via their
entertainment; I’m one of them, and there’s a few others. It’s
improving, I think. Everything factors into it—the Stephenie Meyers
crowd with the vampire romance novels, [for example]. People read through
that pretty fast and get into other books in the genre. The important
thing is that they’re actually reading and consuming things, and even
the things that aren’t strictly skepticism or science-orientated [are]
still teaching the next generation of really passionate readers …
[who] will eventually come around and learn more, if they’re encouraged
to keep reading.

Sturgess: Yes, I’ve
had fights online about whether what some people consider to be “trash
literature” is worthy, when I still see it as encouraging literacy!

Sigler: I would rather
see them reading “trash literature” than not reading at all! Everything
is a sample-set numbers game, and a certain percentage of those [readers]
will go onto reading other things, whereas if [Meyers] hadn’t exposed
them [to reading], in this cultural phenomenon that makes everyone want
to go out and buy a book, those people would not be reading. The same
[is true] for the Harry Potter series before that.

Once
upon a time Stephen King was considered absolutely “trash literature,”
and now he’s lasted longer than his critics! And some of his work
is considered very important.

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